Average Wedding Cost for Event Location

$3,618 is the average wedding cost for Venue, Catering & Rentals Event Location in United States

Roughly 76% - 86%
of couples purchase this

Note: Average Cost is based on the spending of couples recently married not wedding vendor prices.
This includes all types of weddings, event locations, purchases of both new and pre-owned items and purchases of services from professionals,
someone that simply provides the service, or a hired family member or friend.
Spending and prices can vary widely.

The best way to figure out how much you might spend for your wedding is to use the wedding cost estimator

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Heat/AC rentals for some locations that don't have heat or AC on their own

Additional rentals needed by the caterer when your venue doesn't have a professional kitchen. Some chefs need an additional catering tent if your location doesn't have a sufficient kitchen.

Valet fees

Coat check fees

Security

Tipping for location employees (see our Tipping section)

Why Does It Cost This Much?

This is your wedding's home. It has to look pristine, show off a dazzling design, meet your wedding's needs, provide ample space for all of your guests and the functionality of the wedding (from cocktail party to dinner to dancing, etc.) Prices include use, often private use, of a very special location adding a tremendous amount of character and visual beauty to your wedding day, plus ' and this is big ' the utmost professional service by the location's employees. This is part of what boosts price in this sector, a surprising factor to many wedding couples. It takes a company thousands of dollars to find, train, and maintain top-tier employees, so the cost of having the best people working on your wedding ' elevating it at every moment ' accounts for some of the high price.

You'll also need to expect overhead at a wedding location. All of that marble doesn't clean itself, the chandeliers don't maintain themselves, the kitchen's top-quality chefs' tools and oven doesn't come cheap, energy costs would drop your jaw, and then there's taxes and insurance coming into play. A venue spends a lot of money to exist and perform at its high level, and the weddings and events the location hosts take a share of their expenses, in addition to the expenses needed to fulfill all of your wedding wishes.

And of course, a location that doesn't have its own full collection of chairs, tables, linens, serveware, barware, flatware, and stemware will require you to rent a jaw-dropping number of expected and unexpected items throughout your wedding day. So the price of snagging that fabulous, unique wedding venue? It could be staggering, but understandable when you look in-depth at all that keeps the site running optimally, at what they do to create your wedding setting, and when you paint your own wedding scene in a venue, a single installation or view can create a million-dollar effect.